T H U R S D A Y November 25, 2010 Don Gagliardo

Theme: Electric Circuit — All words around the outside perimeter of the grid can come after the word "electric" in a familiar phrase.

Theme answers:

• 1A: Racer's privilege (POLE).
• 5A: Group of contestants (FIELD).
• 10A: Heart, basically (PUMP).
• 13D: Kind of nap or tie (POWER).
• 39D: Common observer (EYE).
• 58D: Bach's instrument (ORGAN).
• 73A: Make it official (SIGN).
• 72A: Rhythmic element (METER).
• 71A: Spelunker's aid (LAMP).
• 52D: Machine with bits (DRILL).
• 32D: Summer cooler (FAN).
• 1D: Brahms's instrument (PIANO).
• 7D: What the perimeter answers in this puzzle literally create (ELECTRIC CIRCUIT).

Happy Turkey Day, everybody! I'm grateful to all of you for hanging out with me and indulging me in my crossword ramblings. So far I'm still having fun. I hope you're getting a little something out of it too.

I'm not going to say too much today — like you I'm sure, I have a lot of family togetherness to get to. Also football. And food. So let's start off with the couple of things I didn't know at all:

• 36A: Three-time U.S. Women's Open champ Berning (SUSIE). Never heard of her. But I haven't paid close attention to tennis in a while. Is she a current player? HAha! She's a golfer. So I guess my inattention to tennis is irrelevant.
• 62D: German fantasy author Michael (ENDE). I feel like I've seen this name before, but it must not have made much of an impression on me.

Bullets:

• 18A: "Camelot" composer (LOEWE) / 19A: "Camelot," e.g. (SHOW). I like the consecutive "Camelot" clues with rhyming answers. Seems appropriate somehow.
• 21A: Prog. discontinued at some campuses during the Vietnam War (ROTC). Apparently it wasn't discontinued at PuzzleDad's college. Legend has it that Dad once beat a guy at pool who, because he didn't have the money on him (!!!), offered to mark my dad "present" in his required ROTC class for the semester. It was only after the semester ended that Dad discovered the guy had moved away. Ouch.

• 48A: Martini's partner (ROSSI). I guess I was thinking of tennis because of that golf clue I mentioned (sheesh!) and misread this as "Martina's partner."
• 52A: Baseball SS's stats (DP'S). I guess this means Double Plays. If I had been forced to come up with it, I probably would have, but I just got it through crosses.
• 69A: Take for __: fool (A RIDE). I had the problem here that SethG talked about yesterday. I read the clue and thought the answer would be "take for … a fool."
• 3D: Scofflaw of a sort (LITTERBUG). I tried "loiterer" but came up short on letters.
• 60D: "Your time __!" (IS UP). Yes, indeed, it is.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 15A: China's Zhou __ (ENLAI).
• 47A: Perry's creator (ERLE).
• 55A: Copycat (APER).
• 70A: Agora portico (STOA).
• 4D: Dinner duo? (ENS).

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Everything Else — 14A: Victor's claim (I WIN); 16A: "Bug off!" ("SHOO!"); 17A: Tiny colonists (ANTS); 20A: The Wallendas don't use one (NET); 22A: Insensitive (OBTUSE); 24A: Had too much of (OD'ED ON); 26A: Adjust, as wheels (TRUE); 28A: Sailor's pronoun (HER); 29A: Designer Gernreich (RUDI); 30A: Church observances (RITES); 32A: Watch pockets (FOBS); 34A: "Hulk" star Bana (ERIC); 40A: Lie alongside (ABUT); 41A: Ali G portrayer __ Baron Cohen (SACHA); 43A: Depend (RELY); 44A: Bruce who played Dr. Watson (NIGEL); 46A: Bakery curlicue maker (ICER); 50A: Unlike Miss Manners (RUDE); 56A: Former NBAer Mourning (ALONZO); 59A: Sanction (RATIFY); 61A: Red amount? (CENT); 63A: Like BMWs: Abbr. (GER.); 64A: March time (IDES); 65A: Connie of "Weekends With Maury and Connie" (CHUNG); 67A: Cold water hazard (BERG); 68A: Party with ukes (LUAU); 2D: Finished paying off (OWNED); 5D: Serious crimes (FELONIES); 6D: Trying to settle a score, for short? (IN O.T.); 8D: __ of averages (LAW); 9D: Fade to nothing (DIE OUT); 10D: Sound made with a cupped hand (PSST); 11D: Compliant sound (UH-HUH); 12D: Bullwinkle J. __ (MOOSE); 21D: Fishing tool (ROD); 23D: Queen's offspring (BEES); 25D: Sporty '70s Plymouth (DUSTER); 27D: Nouveau __ (RICHE); 31D: "And how!" ("SURE DO!"); 33D: __-Wan Kenobi (OBI); 35D: Bring up (RAISE); 37D: Tanzania wildlife reserve (SERENGETI); 38D: Bad (ILL); 42D: Orchestrator, perhaps (ARRANGER); 45D: Rye buy (LOAF); 49D: Cloak-and-dagger gadget (SPYCAM); 51D: Nth: Abbr. (ULT.); 53D: "The Taming of the Shrew" setting (PADUA); 54D: Locomotive propeller (STEAM); 57D: Cause of some floating, briefly (ZERO G); 66D: Charlemagne's realm: Abbr. (HRE); 67D: Undergrad degs. (BS'S).